LYNDORA — Several weeks ago as Blanche Ruby and Annie Siviak watched a heavy thunderstorm while at a bingo game, Siviak commented she hoped her roof didn’t collapse.

Siviak didn’t ask for help, but she found it nonetheless.

“(Siviak) has been my friend for 40 years,” Ruby said.

“She’s a very private person, always has been. She’s just a sweet, little old lady.”

Siviak declined to be interviewed for this story.

When Kelly Ruby, Blanche’s daughter-in-law, heard the story, she was determined to help Siviak, and the resulting effort provided a new roof on Siviak’s 127 Whitestown Road home as well as the possibility of more improvements.

“Literally, water was coming through the light fixtures. (Siviak) has an umbrella in there,” Kelly Ruby said.

“I think she has lived in that house her whole life. You live to that age, you shouldn’t die of electrocution. So, I decided to see what I could do to get her a roof.”

Ruby recruited Jay Cooksey of Lyndora, family and friends, and several businesses to make the project a reality.

Cooksey, who works for W. Scott Sharlow Contracting in Saxonburg, acted as lead roofer, H.P. Starr in Valencia donated materials and Serafine Refuse of Chicora donated a dumpster to haul away the old roof shingles and planking.

Cooksey said, “I remember when I was a little kid growing up here, (Siviak) would climb this hill behind her house every Saturday to go to church.

“As soon as I saw it was her and how bad the shape of the house was, I agreed to help. I would do it by myself if I had to. I’m probably the only roofer here. We have a mechanic here, Kelly’s kids and their buddies,” he said on Aug. 25, the day the roof project was done.

Fortunately for Cooksey, he had about six other people to share the work, including Nick Chupka of Cranberry Township, Kelly Ruby’s son, who celebrated his 26th birthday by scraping shingles off a roof in 85-degree weather.

“My wife and I have plans after this. My family is here, so I thought it would be nice to spend the day with them,” said Chupka that day.

He is a salesman for PLS Logistics, but did some roofing in college.

“It’s always nice to see people come together to help one another. I wish I could do more,” he said.

Cooksey estimated the house is more than 100 years old, and its shingles had more than 40 years of wear.

“(The shingles) are so baked on, they come off in small chunks. It’s a lot to clean up. Otherwise, the house is still a solid house,” he said.

“A job like this costs about $7,200 with materials. It’s cost us about $120 (for wood planking bought by Ruby and her husband). But, a $7,200 job can turn into a $10,000 job pretty quickly. We didn’t want to see her overpay, and it needed done now and not later,” Cooksey said.

Kelly Ruby said the effort to restore Siviak’s home “has just grown and grown. It’s been fantastic.”

“These (volunteers) have been great. All these guys already worked 40 hours this week, before they came here.”

The volunteers don’t plan to stop with just the roof, either.

“Eventually, we’re trying to get donations to do the whole outside of the house, including the windows and siding,” Cooksey said.

He said he plans to inspect the drywall and insulation in the home to make sure there is no deterioration or mold as well.